Automatic cut-out for film-rewinds



E. H. FRANCIS.

AUTOMATIC CUT-,OUTFOR FILM REWINDS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.20. I917- 1,314=',O55. Patented Aug. 26,1919.

3 SHEETSSHEET l.

I INVENTOR.

Earl if. I'm 220w:

BY awazw,

A TTORNE Y.

W I TNESS:

' E. H. FRANCIS.

AUTOMATIC CULOUT FOR FILM REWINDS. APPLICATIOK FILED NOV.20. 1917.

Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2 INVENTOR. Earl H. Eurzcw;

A TTORNE Y.

E. H. FRANCIS.

AUTOMATlC CUT-OUT FOR FILM REWINDS.

APPLICATION FILED Nov.20, 1917.

Ea]? Francii A TTORNEY.

EARL H. FRANCIS, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

AUTOMATIC CUT-OUT FOR FILM-REWINDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application med November 20, 1917. Serial No. 202,922.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EARL H. FRANCIS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson and State of Missouri,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in'Automatic Cut- Outsfor Film-Rewinds, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an automatic cutout for film rewinds, and myobject is to provide means for automatically cutting out the electriccircuit of motors employed in driving reels upon which a motion picturefilm is bein rewound from a second reel. By automatlcally cutting outsaid circuit, the motor and the rewind reel are. stopped withoutattention on the part of the operator, and possible damage to the filmis obviated.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, reference will nowbe made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is aside elevation, partly broken .away, of a motion picturefilm rewind equipped with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation showing 1mportant features of the invention.

Fig. .3 is a front elevation, partly in section, of parts disclosed bFig. 2..

Fig. 4- is a broken, vertical, sectional view on line IV'IV of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a diagram of the motor circuit I equipped with my cut-outswitch.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a modified form of the device.

Referring now indetail to the various parts, A, designates a rewind reelin the act of taking a motion picture film B, from a second reel C. The.rewind reel, A, is mounted upon a shaft D, rovided with a sheave D,adapted to be driven through the intermediacy of an endless belt-E froma sheave F, fixed u on the drive shaft G of an electric motor The shaftD is journaled in a hearing I at the upper end of a standard J, securedupon a suitable support such as K, to which the motor H may also besecured, as shown. The reel C is mounted upon a shaft 1 journaled in abearing 2 at the upper end of a cured upon the support K. The shafts Dstandard 3, bolted or. otherwise firmly se-' and 1, have the usualgroove and feather connections with-the reels A and G, r espectively, torotate the same.

The shaft 1 is provided at one end' with a friction wheel 5 encompassedby a friction band 7, the ends of which are drawn toward each other bysuitable means, such as a screw 9 and a nut 10, to cause said band 7 tofrictionally engage the wheel 5. The screw 9 is provided with an eye 11,which is connected to the upper end of a rack-bar 13 by a cable 14. Therack-bar 13 extends through a guide 16 and is yieldably-connected at itslower end to the standard 3 by a coil spring 18. The guide 16 is carriedby the standard 3 and has a recess 20, to receive a pinion 21intermeshing with the rack-bar 13 and fixedly-mounted upon a shaft 23journaled in a bearing 25, carried by the guide 16. A face plate 27 isremova ly-secured to the guide 16, so that access maybe readily had tothe rack-bar 13 and the pinion 21.-

In addition to the pinion 21, the shaft 23 is provided with a switchblade 29, insulation 31 being interposed between said switch blade 29and the shaft 23. The switch blade 29 is adapted to engage contacts 34-and 35, which, like the switch blade 29, are arranged in a compartment37'on the standard 3." The compartment 37 is provided with a removablecap 39, so that access may be had to the switch members.

The contacts 34 and 35 are fixed to insulation 36 and connected to twoends of a motor circuit 40 (Fig. 5), containing the motor H andconnected to a suitable source of supply, such as main circuit wires Mand N.

In practice, when one end of the film B is connected tothe rewind reel,A, for the purpiose of winding said film thereon, the motor is startedby manually turning the reel, A, until the switch blade 29 is swung intoen- Patented Aug. 26, 1919.

gagement with the contacts 34, 35, which opthe position disclosed byFig. 2, to the po-" sitiondisclosed by Fig. 1, causing it to pull thecable 14 upwardly and raise the rack-bar 13which is held in suchposition against the 'actionof the retractile spring 18. After all ofthe film B has been unwound from the reel vC andthus ceases to rotatethe latter,

thetension on the spring 18 is relieved and it instantly pulls therack-bar 13 downwardly, which through the intermediacy of theintervening parts, rocks the switch blade 29 out of engagement with thecontacts 34, 35, thus interrupting the motor circuit 40. This stops themotor H and the rewind reel A, so that the latter will not continue torotate and possibly injure the film B by throwing the free end thereofoutwardly by centrifugal force into violent contact with the support K.

In the modified form disclosed byFig. 6, the construction and operationis similar to that of the preferred form as indicated by similarnumerals with exponents applied to corresponding parts, the chiefdifference residing in a crank arm 21 which is substituted for thepinion 21 and the rack-bar 13 of the preferred form. Said crank arm 21is fixed upon a shaft 23* and is adapted to be drawn upwardly by thecable 14 or drawn downwardly to the position disclosedby Fig. 6, throughthe intermediacy of the retractile spring 18. When the crank arm 21 isdrawn upwardly it rocks the shaft 23 and causes the switch blade 29 toswing into engagement with the contacts 34 and 35. A guide 16 carried bythe standard 3", serves to keep extraneous objects out of the path ofthe crank arm 21, so that the rocking movement thereof will not heaccidentally checked and thus interfere with the opening or clos-' ingof the motor circuit.

Other modifications falling within the spirit and scope of the appendedclaims may also be employed.

Having thus described my invention, what, I claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is:

1. The combination with a rewind reel, a second reel from which a filmis to be taken by said rewind reel, and a motor and its circuit fordriving the rewind reel, of a switch for controlling the motor circuit,a rockable member upon which said switch is fixed, a pinion fixed tosaid rockable member, mechanism controlled by one of the reels to rotatesaid pinion in a direction to close the switch, and means to cause saidmechanism to open the switch after the film has been unwound from thesecond reel.

2. The combination with a rewind reel, a second reel from which a filmis to be taken by said rewind reel, and a motor and its circuit fordriving the rewind reel, of a switch for controlling the motor \rircuit,a rockable member upon which said iwitch-is fixed, a-

pinion fixed to said rockable member, a rack for rotating said pinion,mechanism controlled by one of the reels to actuate said rack in adirection to effect closing of the switch, and means connected to therack to have the same to efi'ect the opening of the switch after thefilm has been unwound from the second reel.

3. The combination with a rewind reel, a

opposite direction to effect the opening of the switch after the filmhas been unwound from the second reel.

4. The combination with'a rewind reel, a second reel from which a filmis to be taken by said rewind reel, and a motor and its circuit fordriving the rewind reel, of a switch for controlling the motor circuit arockable member upon which said switch is fixed, a pinion fixed to saidrockable member, a rack to actuate said pinion, a friction wheel drivenby the second reel, a friction band encompassing said friction reel andoperably-connected to the rack to cause the same to effect the closingof the switch while the film is being taken from the second reel, andresilient means to actuate the rack and cause it to effect the openingof the switch after the film has been unwound from the second reel.

5. The combination with a rewind reel, a second reel from which a filmis to be taken by said rewind reel, and a motor and its circuit fordriving the rewind reel, of a switch for controlling the motor circuit,a rockshaft upon which said switch is fixed, a stand embodying a bearingfor said rockshaft and a compartment for the switch, mechanismcontrolled by the second reel to rotate said rock-shaft in a directionto close the switch, and resilient means coacting with said mechanism toopen the switch after the film has been unwound from the second reel.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature, in the presence of twowitnesses.

EARL FRANCIS.

Witnesses:

F. G. FISCHER, L. J. FISCHER.

